Customer Affecting Changes

DOCA Flow 3.2.0

Shared Mirror to Hash Flooding Migration

The "shared mirror" feature is being migrated to "hash flooding" to resolve previous limitations. The former configuration had several restrictions (e.g., encap was allowed only when the forward is to wire port). The new hash flooding method is more flexible, allowing any "fwd" type entry to be added to the flood group.

The DOCA_FLOW_SHARED_RESOURCE_MIRROR type and its doca_flow_resource_mirror_cfg struct have been removed.

Recommendation: To adapt, users must now use the DOCA_FLOW_PIPE_HASH pipe type combined with the DOCA_FLOW_PIPE_HASH_MAP_ALGORITHM_FLOODING algorithm. Create the hash pipe with this algorithm, then add the forward (fwd) entries to the hash pipe.

Refer to DOCA Flow section "doca_flow_pipe_hash_map_algorithm" for more details.

Default Miss Standardization

This release standardizes "default miss" handling.

• Previously, an undefined fwd-miss (NULL) would forward traffic based on the run mode (VNF/switch, isolated/non-isolated). This feature now allows the user to define this behavior independently of the run mode.

• This release also improves default RSS, which was previously limited. The system now manages RSS configuration internally, dynamically adapting to changes in RSS queues and hashing configurations.

A new API controls the behavior of an undefined (NULL) fwd_miss.

• Impact: Both VNF and Switch modes are affected; an undefined fwd-miss now defaults to "go-to-Kernel". "Isolated mode" no longer determines the default miss target.

• APIs removed: doca_flow_cfg_set_default_rss and doca_flow_port_cfg_set_rss_cfg.

• Limitation: Counters on the default miss are not yet supported.

Refer to DOCA Flow section "Pipe Default Miss" for more details.

DPA 3.2.0

DPA Application Attributes

To enhance security, DPA application attributes are being introduced. Developers must now create a dpa-app-attributes file for each application, which declares the app's permissions and must be compiled with the application.

When updating the BF-Bundle (or ConnectX firmware), users must also update the corresponding DOCA Host components.

Action Required: As part of this update, each DPA application must be rebuilt with its dpa-app-attributes file.

Undocumented and previously deprecated DPA/FlexIO APIs will be removed.

Users who utilized these APIs must remove them from their code and re-build their applications.

DOCA-Host 3.2.0

OpenSM support is removed from DOCA-Host for Xenserver operating systems.

No impact.

The HCOLL and MPItests packages have been removed from all DOCA-Host deliverables .

No impact listed.

The phy_stats sysfs counters are deprecated.

• Deprecated: /sys/class/net/<iface>/phy_stats/

• Replacement: Use ethtool -S <iface> and filter for packets_phy or bytes_phy.

No impact listed; recommendation is in the description.

The has_smi sysfs entry is deprecated.

• Deprecated: /sys/class/infiniband/mlx5_0/ports/1/has_smi

• Replacement: Use the ib_stat tool

Recommendation: Users should parse the ib_stat output for the "Capability mask" value.

• Bit #1 indicates IsSM

• Bit #10 indicates IsSMdisabled

The hfunc sysfs entry for setting/showing hash functions is deprecated.

• Show (Deprecated): cat /sys/class/net/<iface>/settings/hfunc

• Show (Replacement): ethtool -x --show-rxfh <devname>

• Set (Deprecated): echo [hfunc] > /sys/class/net/<iface>/settings/hfunc

• Set (Replacement): ethtool -X --rxfh <devname> [hfunc FUNC]

No impact listed; recommendation is in the description.

The pfc_stall_prevention sysfs entry is deprecated.

• Show (Deprecated): cat /sys/class/net/<iface>/settings/pfc_stall_prevention

• Show (Replacement): ethtool --get-tunable <iface> pfc-prevention-tout

• Set (Deprecated): echo [default/auto] > /sys/class/net/<iface>/settings/pfc_stall_prevention

  Info

  default is mapped to 8000 msec per critical prevention.

  auto is mapped to 100 msec per critical prevention.

• Set (Replacement): ethtool -X --set-tunable <devname> [pfc-prevention-tout N]

No impact listed; recommendation is in the description.

The sysfs entry for displaying VF statistics is deprecated.

• Deprecated: /sys/class/infiniband/mlx5_2/device/sriov/2/stats

Recommendation: Users should use the ip command instead:

/opt/mellanox/iproute2/sbin/ip -s link show dev <VF-interface-name>

VGT+ capability will be unsupported as of October 2025.

No impact listed.

The "Per Channel Statistics" ethtool private-flag will be unsupported as of October 2025.

No impact listed.

The commands_cache sysfs entry is deprecated.

No impact listed.

Dynamic Kernel Module Support (DKMS) is now integrated, allowing customers to build their own DOCA-Host packages.

As part of the DKMS build process, driver signing is removed. Customers must sign the drivers themselves.

The mlxdevm tool, part of DOCA-Host, is deprecated.

Recommendation: Use the devlink tool, which is included in DOCA-Host. mlxdevm is redundant as it provides the exact same functionality .

Backward compatibility with older MFT (NVIDIA Firmware Tools) versions 4.31.0-149 and 4.30.0-139 is no longer supported.

Using these unsupported MFT versions may lead to unexpected behavior or prevent device detection.

DOCA-Host 3.3.0 (Jan 2026)

The SYSFS interface for MR cache configuration will be deprecated and replaced by the rdma resource command.

Any users or scripts relying on this SYSFS interface must be updated to use the new rdma command API.

DOCA 3.3 (Jan 2026)

DPDK-based hardware acceleration in openvswitch and doca-openvswitch (also known as OVS-DPDK) will be deprecated and retired.

This change affects openvswitch packages in the BF-Bundle (BFB) and all DOCA Host Profiles .

Recommendation: Customers using OVS-DPDK mode should either transition to DOCA-DPIF (recommended) or remain on the DOCA 3.2 LTS release.

DOCA 3.3 (Jan 2026)

MLNX_DPDK will be End-of-Life (EOL) and replaced by upstream DPDK (community LTS version 25.11).

DOCA 3.2 (Oct 2025) will be the final LTS release to include MLNX_DPDK.

This transition applies to DOCA-HOST and BF-Bundle (BFB) packages for both ConnectX and BlueField adapters .

There is no expected loss of functionality, as all MLNX_DPDK capabilities are included in the upstream version.

DOCA FLOW 3.3 (Jan 2026)

NAT64/Crypto API Change

The fields nat64, has_crypto_encap, crypto_encap, and crypto will be removed from the struct doca_flow_actions.

NAT64 and Crypto actions will only be supported via a pipe configured with the DOCA_FLOW_PIPE_ORDERED_LIST type. Users must use DOCA_FLOW_ORDERED_LIST_ELEMENT_NAT64 and DOCA_FLOW_ORDERED_LIST_ELEMENT_CRYPTO elements instead.

DOCA FLOW 3.3 (Jan 2026)

The "Isolated" mode argument will be deprecated and ignored.

As a result, customers will not be able to run multiple processes on the same port when in VNF mode.

DOCA-Host 3.1.0

In the DOCA-OFED profile, the openvswitch component was deprecated and replaced with the doca-openvswitch component .

The content and features are identical, but customers using the openvswitch component must re-build their applications with the new doca-openvswitch package .

The "Shared RQ" feature was replaced by the "memory consumption reduction for representors" feature .

As a result, the esw_pet_insert devlink parameter is no longer available, and setting ALLOW_SHARED_RQ in /etc/mellanox/mlnx-bf.conf has no effect .

DOCA-HOST 3.0.0 (April 2025)

The mlxdevm tool was aligned with devlink v6.12. In this version, a zero rate value indicates "unlimited" and is omitted from the display .

When using mlxdevm port function rate show , the tx_rate and tx_max fields are omitted if their value is zero . The driver also only accepts tx_rate and tx_max values that are multiples of 1 Mb/s .

The mlxdevm tool was aligned with devlink v6.12 and conforms to its man page specifications .

To Set Rate: Use port function rate set [DEV/PORT_INDEX | DEV/NODE_NAME] tx_max VALUE

DOCA-HOST 2.10.0 (Jan 2025)

When Dynamic Interrupt Moderation (DIM) is enabled, static coalescing parameters cannot be set because the dynamic algorithm will override their values .

Recommendation: To set static coalescing parameters, you must first disable DIM.

The ConnectX-4 adapter card family is no longer supported .

N/A

Support was removed for several OS versions (e.g., RHEL 8.0, 8.1, 8.3, 8.5, 8.7, 9.1, 9.3, and OL 7.9) .

N/A

DOCA-FLOW 2.10.0

Several features were temporarily unsupported in the 2.10 release, including ACL pipe, LPM pipe, CT pipe, ordered_list pipe, external send queue (SQ), and pipe resize .

Users needing these features were advised to use DOCA Flow 2.9.1 .

The requirement to use a dummy_id for IPsec encryption actions during pipe creation was removed .

When creating a pipe with a crypto action, UINT32_MAX now represents a changeable shared object, while a crypto_id between 0 and UINT32_MAX indicates a constant .

Memory for "modify field" and "encap" actions must be allocated upfront on a per-port basis .

Recommendation: If these actions are used, the doca_flow_port_cfg_set_actions_mem_size() function must be called to configure the memory size .

"Strict matching" is no longer supported .

The doca_flow_pipe_cfg_set_enable_strict_matching() function is deprecated . Users must use "relaxed matching" .

The entry aging mechanism no longer relies on DPDK. The service_core= and svc_cycle_time= DPDK arguments are no longer supported.

Recommendation: Users must use the new APIs: doca_flow_port_cfg_set_service_threads_core() and doca_flow_port_cfg_set_service_threads_interval().

The doca_flow_parser_meta.random field was changed to big-endian .

Users must update code to provide this value in big-endian format. The DOCA_HTOBE16 macro is recommended .

The RSS config API was refactored to align with other resource types .

Users must now specify whether the RSS resource is shared or non-shared .

Values for the doca_flow_l2_meta and doca_flow_meter_color enums were changed .

Users must recompile their applications .

The match fields parser_meta.outer_l4_ok and parser_meta.inner_l4_ok no longer validate the L4 checksum .

Recommendation: To check for a valid checksum, users must use parser_meta.outer_l4_checksum_ok and parser_meta.inner_l4_checksum_ok.

Entry "life event" callback was previously invoked only on "entry add" and "entry removal" .

The callback is now also invoked upon "port stop" during the removal of pipe entries. Therefore, the user context must still be defined at that stage .

DOCA-ETH 2.10.0

The eth_rxq_managed_mempool_receive and eth_rxq_regular_receive samples were not supported .

Users needing these samples were advised to use DOCA 2.9.1 .

DOCA 2.9.0 (Oct 2024)

DPA Outbox Blocking-Mode

Due to a silicon issue (as of firmware v28.43.2026), the DPA outbox was set to non-blocking mode, causing requests to complete immediately without waiting for the actual operation to finish .

Action Required: The DPA stack must poll a "busy" bit before starting another operation . Users programming the DPA must update firmware to 28.43.2026+ and DOCA-Host to 2.9.x+ .

DPA Thread Context

As of firmware v28.43.2026, internal DPA stack API changes altered the DPA thread context, impacting the overlying DPA stack .

This requires the same action as the Outbox Blocking-Mode: update firmware to 28.43.2026+ and DOCA-Host to 2.9.x+.